Robina stabbing: Tragic last words of ‘inspiring’ man 26, murdered outside a Gold Coast pub – as friends promise he will be ‘missed but never forgotten’
A young Gold Coast man is remembered as fun-loving and good-natured before his life was tragically cut short in an alleged 90-second bar fight.
Dylan McPadden, 26, was in the smoking area of RQ’s Tavern in Robina on the Gold Coast at around 10:15 p.m. Thursday when a man and woman entered.
Words were exchanged between the two men, who are believed to know each other, before the man allegedly drew a knife and stabbed Mr McPadden once in the chest before he and the woman fled.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated Mr McPadden before he was taken to Gold Coast University hospital where he sadly died.
A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder after police raided a unit in the neighboring suburb of Mermaid Beach around 2am Saturday.
During a search of the unit, ‘several’ knives were seized, according to the police.
Dylan McPadden (pictured) has sadly passed away after suffering an alleged stab wound to the chest during a 90-second bar fight on the Gold Coast
Just a few days ago, the happy-go-lucky Mr. McPadden had written on social media about how pleased he was with what would turn out to be his tragic final post.
“Yesss, today feels like a day to dance,” he wrote.
He had also recently posted about reaching a long-term goal that he had been working towards and not sure what to focus on next.
A group of friends gathered at RQ’s Tavern on Saturday afternoon to have a drink in honor of their mate and “wish him well,” while more friends took to social media to express their shock.
Rest in paradise Dylan McPadden. Thank you for all the great memories during our high school years,” said friend Rachel Wright.
“You have always been such a light and always will be such a light in everyone’s life. Your presence here will be missed but certainly not forgotten. Fly high Dyl,” she added.
Another friend, Lisan Ferguson, wrote: ‘Another legend lost too soon. you will be missed.’
A friend told reporters outside the inn on Saturday that Mr McPadden was “not a man to get into this sort of fight.”
“He’s a lucky guy who keeps himself out of this kind of situation.”
Dylan McPadden (pictured) was a ‘happy-go-lucky’ man who kept himself out of ‘situations like this,’ his friends said
Queensland Police Detective Sergeant Mark Proctor said on Saturday it was a tragic example of the dangers of knives.
“That’s what knife crime does, it turns small incidents into big incidents and it destroys lives.”
“The fighting started almost immediately in that area.”
“As a result of that argument, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed the person once in the chest,” he said.
“The whole incident happened within minutes, about 90 seconds.”
‘It’s just a shame. I understand the young man was a regular at that inn so (staff) would have known him.’
Police at the pub on Thursday after the alleged brawl. Mr. McPadden was a regular customer
A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder, with police seizing bags of evidence, including several knives
Homicide detectives investigate the brawl outside RQ’s Tavern on the Gold Coast
He said forensic teams were reviewing the knives seized from the Mermaid Beach unit.
“We will have to establish by scientific means which knife was used, whether it was in fact one of the seized knives or one we are still looking for.”
The suspect remains in custody.
Detectives want to speak to all witnesses and anyone with relevant footage of the incident.